


Flowers of the Seasons

by MadamBluehouse



Category: Ancient Greek Religion & Lore
Genre: Abduction, F/M, Implied Sexual Content, Language of Flowers, Retelling, Slow Burn, Uncle/Niece Incest, anyway welcome back on top lady persephone, the length of each 'section' is pretty uneven, you see I tried to be poetic
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2020-03-09
Updated: 2020-03-09
Packaged: 2021-02-28 17:08:24
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 4,554
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/23080717
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/MadamBluehouse/pseuds/MadamBluehouse
Summary: The story of Hades and Persephone, told in the language of flowers, arranged in order by their blooming seasons.
Relationships: Hades/Persephone (Ancient Greek Religion & Lore)
Kudos: 25





	Flowers of the Seasons

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> The beginning of their story, in which Persephone begins to find herself doomed to the Land of the Dead.

_**Rose (Orange)-- Fascination**_

He was fascinated by her.

Hades had not expected to see Demeter's girl in her mother's garden when he went to visit his sister, solely to inform her of a severe famine in Crete that had bought hundreds of starving souls into his realm within a week. But anything about the dead had been forgotten as soon as he laid his eyes upon her, radiant with life as orange roses blossoms on her pink fingertips.

He was approaching her before he could stop himself. The girl went still upon hearing hid footsteps, looked up, saw him and stood up straight, sweeping the dirt off her grass green chiton. He was a little taken aback by her reaction. Most gods, especially those of her generation, would either leave in a hurry or step back in fear at his presence. She, however, seemed far from frightened.

“Hello,” she greeted as he walked into her mother's garden, the hem of his robe lifted by the grasses and flowers tickling his heels.

“Good morning,” he replied. “Is Demeter home?” he asked.

“Yes,” she smiled, “She is my mother, and she is in the house right now.”

“I see…” he muttered, the sweetness of flowers attacked his nose mercilessly. He could taste it on the tip of his tongue, too. It felt delightfully sticky and thick in his throat.

The small smile on her amaranth lips widened, “My name's Persephone.”

_Bringer of Destruction,_ he thought. “Unusual name, that.”

“Do you not think that I am unusual, uncle?”

His eyes widened at the form of address she used, “You know who I am?”

Her hair, in the same shade of orange as the roses in her hands, slid off her shoulder as she tilted her head to the side. “You are Hades, Lord of the Underworld, aren't you?”

The corner of his lips lifted in amusement. The way she said his name was…funny, but it was not bad. Not bad at all. “You are a very clever girl. Unusual, too.” 

“None has told me the same thing before, besides my mother.”

“Speaking of your mother,” said Hades, realizing that he might have spent too much time alone with the girl, “I shall meet her inside now. Would you…?”

Persephone shook her head, “Mama doesn't like me joining her and her guests.”

He nodded, “I shall see you later then, Persephone.” 

Stealing a final glimpse of her tawny hair and warm brown eyes and ankles slightly paler than the rest of her skin, he turned his back towards her and walked into the house, trying to shake off the way she cocked her head to the side in fascination.

_**Chrysanthemum-- Truth** _

“Eros,” sneered the dark god as he stepped in front of Eros, who has taken the form of a young hunter despite being older and far more powerful than any of the gods, cutting his path.

“What do you want, Aidoneus?” asked the God of Love; annoyed, but not angered.

“Explain to me about this fascination that I have developed with Persephone.”

“Demeter's daughter?” Eros chuckled upon the memory of spying Hades as he awkwardly spoke to the beautiful goddess. “Ah, I remember. Pretty young girl. It was beyond fun, watching you get all head over heels with that girl. I almost missed my aim. ”

Hades inhaled sharply. “You—” he fumed, but held himself back before spitting out anything that could irritate the other god, knowing that if he did so he would only bring more suffering upon himself.

“Tell me the truth,” sighed the Lord of the Dead; calmer now, “am I the only one struck by your arrows?”

“Yes,” said Eros, deadly serious. “Don't look at me like I am Hermes. I am telling you the truth, believe me or not.”

Hades remained silent as he nodded and turned to leave, his steps slower and heavier than when he had come.

Eros sighed in pity for the gloomy god. Despite being one of the very few wise ones among their kind, he didn't seem to realize that truths, sometimes, could be temporary.

_**Clove-- I Have Loved You and You Have Not Known It** _

Persephone stared at the ceiling as her captor knocked on the door.

He could come in anytime; there was no lock. Still, he knocked, hoping that she would let him in.

Lying on her back in the enormous bed, she tried her best to ignore the man outside, but each soft call of her name twisted her heart tighter and tighter. How dared he say her name so sweetly after he had yanked her from the world above so cruelly? 

She had been forced from a golden cage into another, her mother's garden to this pathetic realm. She had always thought her mother's embrace to be suffocating, but the way he pulled her by her wrist into the darkness was no different. And that was when she realized maybe the anchor Mama had chained her to wasn't so bad after all.

“Persephone?” whispered her captor again. It was a quiet call, but loud enough to be heard in this silent, lifeless cave. The way he lifted the last syllable of her name reminded her of the last time she saw him in the world above. He had come to her home that sunny afternoon, but not to speak to her mother like the first time they met, but to spend time with her, alone.

She closed her eyes and the first thing she saw was his black hair slick with sweat from the heat of the sun, the hem of his dark robe all dirty from being dragged across the meadow and the way he looked at her like she was a grown-up, a person of her own, instead of Demeter's little girl. If he had asked her to travel down to the Underworld with him then, she would have followed him without a second thought. But instead of courting her as her brothers had, he had lured her with that narcissus and simply plucked her away from the ground as if she was some flower swaying in the wind. Perhaps he was worried about her mother's objection. But how could her Mama possibly stop him if he was to ask for her hand?

The deeper she was in her thoughts, the more furious she got. Frustrated, she groaned and demanded, “Leave me.”

The corridor fell silent. 

A few moments passed, and she heard him leave, his footsteps growing more and more distant.

She waited until his footsteps faded away. Then, she began to weep.

She had loved him, and he had not known it. Would never know it. She would not give him the privilege of knowing that he had once captured her heart.

_**Sunflower-- False Riches** _

He had given her countless gifts since her arrival.

They were always jewellery, made of expensive metals and crystals and diamonds because those were all that he could offer, being the Lord of the Dead and Riches. At first, she would throw them away as soon as he placed them in her hands and yelled at him about how even the shiniest diamond could not replace the sunshine and streams and flowers and all that he had deprived her of, but soon she got tired of the taunting and seeing the hurt expression on that supposedly stone-cold face, so she just accepted them with a cold nod, slammed the door and hid them inside the drawers of the wardrobe in her room so she would not have to see them again.

Sometime later, he stopped sending her jewellery and began to leave flowers at her door instead. Not actual flowers, of course. She doubted that he had any access to real, living plants, and even if he did he certainly would not be able to keep them alive before reaching her room. Those flowers were made of metal. Expensive ones, judging from his previous attempts at wooing her. Persephone wondered if her captor had made them himself. He certainly had exquisite craftsmanship if those were his handiwork. They were delicate and elegant and even soft and light like the genuine ones.

Yet Persephone reminded herself that no matter how beautiful they were, these artificial blossoms would never be the same as the ones she had grown above and below. They would not attract and feed bees and butterflies, delight one with the sweetness of their fragrance and nectar, and shed their petals and wither to fertilize the soil for their own kind. They were, like the golden sunflower he had given her earlier that day, merely false riches.

And she wanted none of those.

_**Statice-- Sympathy** _

“Come with me,” said Hades, almost begging, but not quite, yet. “I have something to show you.”

“I want nothing you wish to offer,” Persephone replied coldly, trying to ignore the copper lungworts he had laid upon her palm. ‘You are my life’, screamed the reddish petals. Was it intentional? She did not think he would speak the language of flowers.

“Please,” he whispered, begging now, “you think of my kingdom as a prison and your room as a cage. Allow me to show you my realm's beauty and all that you shall rule with me if you become my queen.” She was glad about his choice of words. ‘If’, not ‘when’. So she still had a choice in this matter. Pleased, she nodded. A small smile splayed out on his face and he offered her his arm, which she took firmly. Not affection, just mere manners. She was no capricious child and she would not let him think that she was one either.

He led her through corridors and staircases and more corridors. Finally, they stopped in front of a door. A door made of warm wood and fragrant like…

“Olivewood?” she asked, stunned.

He shrugged, “Thought you might like something from home.”

She approached the door carefully. “Open it and see what's inside,” encouraged her captor as her hand landed on the silver doorknob.

Persephone didn't need to be told twice.  
With a twist of her wrist, the door was opened, and Persephone found herself in the world above, with its starry sky and moonlit ground.

Except that it wasn't the world above. No, it was a giant cave, though tiny comparing to the entire Underworld. The stars were made of jewels, mostly diamonds, and the moon was a delicate sphere of crystal adorned by silver.

Staring at the artificial sky in awe, she walked further into the cave. In the middle of the dry yellow meadow, booming into life with each step she took, was laid a small blanket. Smoothing the back of her peplos, she sat down on the blanket and hesitantly, petted the spot next to her.

It took a few moments for him to understand her silent invitation and sit down next to her. She spent a good few minutes admiring the shiny rock ceiling before turning her head to find him staring at her. A light blush flooded his cheeks and he darted his eyes to a flower that had risen from the soil minutes ago like a helpless schoolboy, drawing out a snort from her.

He heard it and smiled. It was not an unpleasant sight, his smile. “I hope they look… recognizable,” he said, his voice sounded like his mind had wandered off to somewhere distant. “Been ages since I last saw the night sky.”

“They are beautiful,” she breathed. “How do you get them to glow like that?”

“Sunlight reflected by mirrors through a small tunnel,” he explained. “I'm sorry I can't give you the real sky. Need the soil to be a barrier between the living and the dead.”

She nodded, understanding. With a soft sigh, she turned to look at him, and found him staring at her again. He did not look away this time. The stars on the rock ceiling might be beautiful, but they were, like the flowers he had given her, fake and plain wrong, but the stars in his eyes were something entirely different and so, so true.

He offered her another smile before looking up at the diamond stars, his eyes filled with the same kind of longing he had shown whenever he looked at her. That was when she realized that he was just another prisoner down here in this dreadful realm, kept from the stars and the moon and the sun since millennia ago.

She saw a purple statice sprouting from the soil beside her and plucked it up, and in sympathy that she had never thought she would felt for that man, placed it on his ear.

He pulled the purple flower out to take a good look of it, stared at it with an unnameable emotion for a couple of seconds before putting it back, a sad smile on his face.

Oh, how she pitied him.

_**Geranium (Scarlet)-- Stupidity** _

It was an incredibly stupid move.

He had laid the pomegranate on the table when he left to speak with Hermes, who had come to retrieve her under father's order, the ruby fruit on the dark table an unspoken offer.

She rolled the fruit back and forth from one hand to another as his footsteps faded away, calculating the consequences of accepting and rejecting his offer. The dark pink skin of the pomegranate was smooth and warm under her fingertips, unlike the rocky Underworld. It was simply hard to believe that it was the only fruit that was able to grow in this realm which was so different from itself.

On the other end of the table was laid a knife. She grabbed it and hold its blade against the fruit, her decision slowly forming in the void of her mind. 

Something flooded her senses and filled her chest with an unknown emotion; maybe it was the fear of Mama's grip further tightening on her, maybe it was the flowers that he had laid at her door, maybe it was the twinkle of his eyes in the starlit cave or maybe it was the way he said her name like it was nectar on his tongue back in that garden. Whatever it was, it had come and gone in a rush, and when she had finally regained her consciousness, her hands were already stained with bloody juice.

She swallowed hard and felt the sweetness of the seeds lingering in her throat and she trembled. What she had done might be considered foolish, but what happened had happened and there was no way to change it.

A second later he stormed into the hall, regretting his actions, perhaps. He looked like he was about to faint when he saw the pool of crimson juice on the table.

He rushed to her side and, to her surprise, bent down on his knees, and gently guided her to face him to get a better look of her. “Persephone? What have you… why…?”

“I don't know,” she muttered, millions of emotions filled her chest at once, but her face remained expressionless. “It's stupid, isn't it?”

He stared into her eyes with his coal-black ones for what felt like an eternity.

Finally, he said, “No. Not at all.”

“Not at all,” he repeated, sincere.

“You are my wife now,” said Hades as he held the numb goddess to his chest.

_**Chocolate Cosmos-- I Love You More Than Anybody Can** _

“Please don't…” pleaded Hades, towering above the goddess sitting at the edge of her own bed. It was the first time she had allowed him into her room, but she hadn't said a word since then.

“Please don't be sad, Persephone, I wish…” he paused again, unable to manifest his thoughts into words. “I will care for you, I will provide you with anything you wish, I will not force you to stay when you ought to leave, I…”

_I love you,_ he thought. _I let you go because I love you and I made you stay because I love you. I love you more than anybody can._

He did. He loved her more than anyone else possibly could, except her mother, perhaps. But a mother's love was completely different from that of a man, and to compare the two was something completely senseless.

_I love you,_ he thought again, and repeated it a thousand times in his head.

But he did not say it. Did not have the right to say it, after what he had done to her.

“Do not see me as the same as your previous suitors,” he said. “I am a man of my words and I will keep my promises. You are my queen and I will swear everything on the River Styx if you wish me to.”

“No,” she denied, “stop this nonsense.”

“Leave now, please,” she pleaded, pushing him away from her bed and striking him dumb.

“I will be in the dining hall tomorrow. You need not come to my room,” she said and slammed the door, leaving a desperate man outside.

“As you wish,” he sighed.

_**Meadow saffron-- My Best Days Are Past** _

Her childhood seemed so near yet so distant at the same time.

Alone in the cave Hades had given to her, Persephone had a lot to think about. The longer she had spent in the cave, the more lively its ground became. After three months of being tended by a fertility goddess, the meadow had come to a state in which it resembled the world above at the moment.

She started her eyes to a newly grown meadow saffron. Sighing, she stroked its lilac petal gently. She remembered doing so as a child, but the feeling had been completed different. Things had been so much simpler back then. Just her, Mama, some nymphs, the sun dipping everything in gold and occasional visits from her siblings. But Persephone had never liked being a simple girl and surely wasn't one now, though she desperately missed being a simple innocent child.

Just three more months, she thought, three more months and she would be Mama's sweet little girl again. Her stay in this gruesome world was only temporary, after all.

Except that it wasn't.

Six months in the Underworld every year, for eternity. She and her mother could pretend nothing had happened when she was back up in the world above, but it would never be the same. She was no longer a child growing daisies in her mother's garden; no, she was a queen now, a grown woman. Her memories of her girlhood were already fading now.

And she did not try to grasp them.

Her best days were past, and she would let them be.

_**Aster-- Patience** _

Hades glanced across the dining table at his wife, who was paying more attention to her plate than to the man across the table.

He sighed quietly; it was her last night in the Underworld, yet she was still refusing to acknowledge his presence. Desperate, he kept his eyes on her, trying to memorize every feature.

He didn't think that she would hear his sigh, but she had, and she looked up, curious, or concerned? He couldn't tell. But there was a stubbornness in her eyes when she met his gaze, unashamed and unafraid.

Such a look rendered him breathless, and he had to take a deep breath to calm down. Unsure of what to do, he gently laid his hand on hers, which was lying idle on the table, and she did not shiver under his touch.

“Spend the evening with me,” he said. It was not a demand, but an invitation, a request.

She stared at him for several torturingly long moments. Analyzing his intentions, perhaps. Finally, she nodded, as if she wanted to see what he had up his sleeves. “Okay,” she said, “a few hours in the cave and that's all.”

It didn't take them long to get to the cave. Persephone was basically leading the way the whole time. She had familiarised herself with the internal structure of Hades' palace which was usually impossible to memorize to anyone apart from himself. That, was more than impressive.

“What have you got in that mind of yours?” she asked as he settled himself down next to her.

“Well,” he said, “I will miss you when you're gone.”

She looked like she was at a loss of words upon hearing that. “I will return to you. You know I will,” finally, she said.

“Still,” he sighed. 

“What are you trying to say?” she asked, impatient.

“Hmmm,” he muttered, “What I'm trying to tell you is...”

He paused again, took a deep breath, and continued, “I... I'll be patient. I'll be patient when you are gone and wait for you to come back and I'll wait for you to…”

He left the last two words unsaid.

A few moments of silence passed. Persephone was the one who broke the silence, “You know I don't…”

“I know,” he whimpered, closing his eyes so she would not see all the sadness in it, “I know you can't right now and that's my fault. But I'll wait. Even if you don't at last, I will still wait.”

She nodded in a saddened manner that seemed more sympathetic than touched. Didn't matter to him, though. He would be patient.

“I have… one more request.”

“Yes?” she raised an eyebrow.

“When you come back from the Upperworld,” he whispered, “tell me how to make this sky look more like yours.”

“I suppose I can do that,” muttered  
Persephone as she raised her head to look at the rocky sky above.

“I should retire to my room now,” she said as she stood up, brushing her hand behind her to straighten her dress.

“Yes, you should,” replied Hades as she turned to face him, “long journey ahead tomorrow.”

Persephone nodded, “Goodnight, Hades.”

“Goodnight, Persephone,” he said, his eyes not leaving her as she walked to the door.

He did not know how long he had stayed in the cave after she had left, but when he finally rose to leave, a pale purple aster was beaming at him beside his foot.

He wondered if she had grown it for him.

_**Pansy-- Think of Me** _

“Nephew,” demanded Hades as Hermes entered one of his halls, “allow me a moment with my wife. Then, I shall let you depart with her.”

The boyish god's eyes glittered with curiosity, concern, and eventually mischief. “Alright, Uncle,” he said, the corner of his lips rising into a smirk, “I will be waiting outside.”

Hades nodded as Hermes flew out of the hall on his winged sandals, shutting the door in a fluid, swift motion.

“He's definitely going to be eavesdropping on us,” snorted Persephone.

“Let him,” he said.

“So what do you want to do?” she asked. “You only have a moment left with me, you may want to spend it wisely.”

“Of course.” He raised his hand and summoned a dark wooden box from the middle of nowhere.

“I have something to give you.”

She stared at the box oddly as he held the box in front of his chest, and he swore that he had spotted a slight frown on her brows as he opened the box. He hoped that she would not reject this gift, especially with that loud-mouthed young god awaiting them outside.

As if she could sense his nervousness, she gave a reassuring smile when she looked up and their eyes met. Knowing that he would not like to be urged on at the moment, she asked no questions. She could read him like an open book, and the most terrifying part of it was that he would gladly let her.

Slowly, he opened the box, revealing a silver hairpin inside. Her eyebrows rose in amusement as he took it out by its long delicate needle; a good sign, he assumed.

She did not object when he carefully slipped it into her hair, leaving its head adorned by flowers of purple crystals above her ear.

“I know you've never liked the gifts I have offered you,” he whispered as he stroked the shiny petals of the pansies in her hair, “I don't expect you to wear it when you're up there, either. I only hope that you would…think of me when you look at it.”

Her slightly widened eyes suggested that she was a bit taken aback by his earnestness. Still, she nodded and said, “I will keep it well.”

Pleased, he smiled and tucked a stray strand of hair behind her ear, “Will you be so kind as to grant a man his wish?”

Her lips were pinched into a thin line as she inhaled. “I suppose it would be rather difficult to not think of someone whom you will be staying with for six months a year.”

He chuckled as he tried but failed to swallow a pained whimper in his throat. Upon hearing him whimper she looked up into his eyes. Uncertain of what to say, he assumed, she bit her lip as her hand went up to his shoulder. A comforting gesture, nothing more. But it was enough for him.

She let go of her lip as his hand slid down along her jaw to hold her chin. Before he could stop himself, he had covered her lips with his thumb. They felt soft and smooth and warm under his finger and suddenly he felt a strong urge to feel those lips with his own. Hades wondered how Persephone would react if he leaned down to kiss her right then. Would she let him pull her close and kiss him back, or would she push him away and rush out of the hall and refuse to speak to him when she returned six months later?

No, he couldn't lose her. It was too soon. Trying his best to regain his control, he pulled away from her and eyed the door warily. “It has been more than a moment, it seems,” he sighed. “I should let you go now.”

“Yes,” she nodded, looking away with a tinge of pink on her cheeks, “I shall depart now. Goodbye, husband.”

All the air in his lung was drawn out and caught in his throat at the word. “Goodbye, my dear,” he muttered. “Think of me, please.”

She swallowed and offered him to slightest of a nod, to which he replied with a small smile before turning away and closing his eyes, preparing himself for the darkness that he knew would soon be crushing upon him.

Outside the hall, Hermes way leaning on the door with his ear attached to the thick wood, laughing quietly. He nearly fell onto the ground when the door suddenly opened.

“Sister,” he greeted with a wide grin as he regained his balance, “seems like that grumpy old man has a soft spot for you.”

Persephone looked down to the ground thoughtfully. “So he does,” she muttered.

“An unusual goddess, indeed you are.”

She shrugged casually, though Hermes still noticed the heaviness in it. “He is not a very usual god either.”

“Very hard to not think of this god, right?” he mocked jokingly.

“Yes,” she said, deadly serious as her hand went up to the glittering flowers in her hair, “very hard.”


End file.
